knee’s planted tanks

[knee]

Went to the LFS that specializes in aquascaping and nano fish. Got some more Yamaya stones for the major rescape that will happen hopefully very soon. Currently having a stand made where I can stack a 60B and 40B.

I took some photos of the aquascapes from the store:

Holding tank for the plants that he sells

 

I also did a minor rescape on both tanks. I had so much mini Java fern floating around the 40B so I decided to attach it to a piece of driftwood 

 

I cut the sponge from a sponge filter that I had lying around 

 

Also some baby plants

 

 

I grabbed all the surviving stem plants from the 40B and planted them on the Java moss. I’ve done this with a previous scape and I had great success in growing them.

 

 

Also added some mini Java fern to the driftwood of the 20 long. I also added some dragon stone to set some territories for the rams. They’re constantly able to see each other because I took out the Yamaya stones from this tank 

 

There’s just plants everywhere. Here’s a random Java fern leaf without any roots, sprouting some babies with the croaking gourami trying to photobomb

 

Full tank shot:
 

40B

 

20 long

 

Once I’m able to get the stand, I will start scaping the 60B. Will move the fish from the 40 to the 60, and then from the 20 to the 40.  

Edited January 8 by knee

[knee]

Bolivian ram fry are now free swimming. Took a video instead of taking photos. I fed them sera o nip tabs that stick to the aquarium glass so we can see most of the fish. They will be transferred to the 60 breeder once my stand is complete. 

The big ram I got from @SugarBassJoe finally decided to come out and I think he paired up with the same female he came with. I’m glad they remembered each other 😂
 

 

[knee]

Finally rescaped both tanks. Started with the 20 long and it took me almost the whole day. I went through each and every single stem of the  jungle that I had. 
 

 

Had all these rocks to use but I feel like some of them are inert so I used ph down to test them

 

This lot was not inert so they will not be used. I wonder what I stocking can work with these rocks? I’m thinking some dwarf livebearers so I can grow them in the 5g. 

I didn’t know a 20 gallon long can hold this much plants 😂
 

First layout but wasn’t satisfied. I felt like I didn’t give them enough floor space 

 

Moved some rocks on the left and kinda piled them on the right. Still not satisfied but I like it better 

This plant straightened itself out in just two days. If you look at first version of the rescape you can see it all bent in the front center part of the tank  

 

A week later I started on the 40 breeder because I didn’t have time last week. I decided to keep the emmersed hygrophila because my roommate said that he really liked it. 

 

Started emptying the tank. I kept about 15g of the original water  

 

First time seeing it empty again since the setup

 

Hygrophila jungle

 

Purple flower from the hygrophila

 

Plants attached to dragon stone 

I didn’t intend for the lighting to look like this but the hygrophila blocks so much light. There’s actually more detail at the back 😂

 

Some shots of the fish

 

I also added another light for the emmersed growth hygrophila. I’m hoping that it will start reaching for that light instead of my main light so that the tank isn’t blocked out of light as much. I had this idea because when the hygrophila first started growing emmersed, it was growing straight out of the water. As time passed it bent to kind of like an S shape so it can get under the hood of the main light. I also learned than the plant would try to send little stems out from the main light when it gets too tall. Im assuming to look for other light sources. Never offered another light source before so hopefully my experiment works.

 

Here’s a video of the 40B. It’s hard to appreciate the tank right now because of how little lighting gets through. I’m sure the fish love it tho

I’m also preparing to scape the 60 breeder that was given to me. I still need a stand, more hard scape, a new light and more money. I got some rocks from aquarocks Colorado cause they had a sale recently. Thanks to @nabokovfan87 for the heads up. I got 45lbs of Icelandic lava stone and 45lbs of maple leaf rock because they both compliment the rocks that I already have (dragon and yamaya stone)

The plan is to move everyone in the 40B to the 60B and then move the 20L to the 40B. The 20L will be dedicated shrimp tank. 

 

Edited January 29 by knee

[nabokovfan87]

Given the water we have, you could use the more active rocks in a shrimp setup or with live bearers?  You can acid wash it, very easy to do that, and then basically see what that pulls from the texture/surface of the rock.  Cool finds.  The tank looks good and we'll have to see how all of the plants do with adjusting to everything you have changed and moved.  Looking forward to seeing your tanks back up to max awesomeness, you know... the usual for you!

[knee]

On 1/29/2024 at 1:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

You can acid wash it, very easy to do that, and then basically see what that pulls from the texture/surface of the rock.

I've looked into acid washing but I read that it would still release some carbonates in the water and once it reaches a ph of 8 it will stop releasing carbonates. I think I can just do the livebearer route so I don't have to worry about watching the ph or anything. I want to do neocaridina as well but I've never kept them in a tank with hardscape that isn't inert. I'm not too experienced with shrimp 😖

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:38 PM, knee said:

I've looked into acid washing but I read that it would still release some carbonates in the water and once it reaches a ph of 8 it will stop releasing carbonates. I think I can just do the livebearer route so I don't have to worry about watching the ph or anything. I want to do neocaridina as well but I've never kept them in a tank with hardscape that isn't inert. I'm not too experienced with shrimp 😖

When you're ready, we can figure out getting some of mine to you.  Minerals for them is a good thing and it helps to counter a bit of their deterioration of the KH/GH over time.  It's not a bad way to handle it, honestly.  Our water, normal water changes, you might get in the 7.2-7.4 PH range depending on the rock.  I don't see the huge bands of calcium and so I would honestly assume it's leeching very little.  My method for testing, toss the rocks you want to use into a bucket with an airstone and just let them soak. Test the GH/KH right away, and then track it over time.  Treat it like an aquarium where you might need to top off, but that's not going to impact your testing.  After a week or a few weeks you'll have an idea of how bad the leeching is.  The tank is going to get normal water changes, so there's that as well.  It's about about maintenance, just like tannins.

[knee]

Hope everyone’s doing amazing. Haven’t really updated much because I know that I’ll be rescaping again soon and it might happen this weekend. I bought some stands from Wayfair and they will be arriving tomorrow and on Friday 

The plan is to move fish from the 20 to the 40 and fish from the 40 to the 60 which leaves me with an empty 20 long. Planning to do a planted pea puffer tank with about 15-20 puffers. The stand for the 40B allows me to put the 20 long underneath which is perfect for the space I have available. 
 

I’m also planning to use my empty 5g topfin retreat tanks for shrimp and I can put those below the 60B. 
 

Haven’t really done much to the tanks but the emmersed overgrown hygrophila has finally straightened out. There’s more light in the tank now. 

 

The plants in the 20 long struggled because I was medicating the tank for a couple of weeks before. But it’s starting to come alive again 

 

Also used this 5g container to throw in stems or whatever plant matter I can find in my tank that isn’t attached to something. It’s been growing pretty well. If I do need more plants I can just pluck from here and put it underwater.

 

I usually avoid buying fish from Petco but I couldn’t resist the heart shaped tail of this guppy 

 

Edited March 20 by knee

[knee]

I received the two stands I ordered from Wayfair and got them setup. 
 

Took me about an hour each to setup with the help of my roommate. It’s easy to do alone but it will be faster with another pair of hands.
 

Will try to do the move all the fish this weekend. I think I have enough hard scape to achieve the look that I’m planning to do. Still haven’t decided if I wanna use co2 since the 40 and 60 won’t be stacked anymore. Also don’t wanna deal with weekly trimming so I might put co2 on hold for now. 
 

Also ordered a new HOB filter to put in the 20 long because that tank will be empty except for the pond snails and until the pea puffers arrive. Aquahuna offers 6 pcs per order so I might get 18 but not sure if that will be overstocked. I’m not planning on adding other fish besides the puffers unless I can find something small enough that can work with them. 

I got the Netlea HOB because it’s new to me and looks pretty good. If anyone has tried this HOB you’re more than welcome to let me know what you think of it. 

Also ordered some fish from Aquahuna that will most arrive next week Wednesday if they get sent out on Monday. I got some threadfin rainbows to go with the fish in the 20 long, and some male apistos for my two girls in the 40B. Will probably get more fish for both tanks after a week or two just so everything can settle and bacteria can catch up  

 

[knee]

Finally moved all the fish yesterday. I started around 5pm and finished 12 hours later 😅😴😴😴

 

The 40 breeder has yamaya stones and Icelandic lava rock. I really enjoyed the driftwood placement on the previous scape so I kept that part. Water is still a bit cloudy cause I messed with the media of the filter. Added some quick start to help the bacteria.

I’m keeping the kinda dark shadowy vibe of this tank and will probably add some epiphytes and floating plants. 
 

The 60 breeder didn’t take long to clear up. I used dragon stone and maple leaf stone for this tank. Wasn’t able to use my other driftwood piece cause of space. I preferred the other piece because it’s grey and doesn’t blend in with the stones. Had to settle with this piece so I tried to make it work 

I kinda like the more open look to this tank. Planning to add more stem plants that aren’t demanding, some echinodorus and more crypts. Might do  some floating plants as well.

 

[knee]

Took some photos of my favorite male Bolivian Ram. He’s picking out a territory and getting ready to spawn after moving into the 60 breeder. 

 

Edited March 25 by knee

[nabokovfan87]

I love how the rock compliments the fish so well.

[knee]

Some more fish pics. Couldn’t get photos of the other inhabitants because they swim too fast. 
 

One of the three or four pairs that formed since moving to the 60 gallon

new male agassizii I got from aquahuna

Female agassizii from another member in this forum

Bolivian Ram females

 

I think this is the 5th pair that will form soon. The male and female are still chasing each other 

 

Remember this surprise baby that showed up when I gave all my swordtails away?

 

This is him now #glowup

 

I did notice that swordtails would constantly peck on mystery snails. Had to move my snail to the 40 gallon because they did not stop bothering my snail. Has anyone else experienced this? What about with platies?

 

[knee]

Some photos and a video of my other favorite dwarf cichlid and other tankmates in the black water 40 breeder. I didn’t really plan on it being black water but it worked out better for my stocking. 

 

 

[nabokovfan87]

Absolutely breathtaking photography.  I love seeing that side of the hobby from your eyes in that way.  Thank you so much for taking the time to produce content like that.

On 4/6/2024 at 2:18 AM, knee said:

I love the color of the leaf and the depth in this one especially.

[knee]

On 4/6/2024 at 12:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Absolutely breathtaking photography.  I love seeing that side of the hobby from your eyes in that way.  Thank you so much for taking the time to produce content like that.

I love the color of the leaf and the depth in this one especially.

Thanks! I really enjoy taking photos of my aquariums and learning about photography in the process. I do prefer having depth when I take photos and when I aquascape. I just feel like it makes it more dynamic 😄

[macdaddy36]

How is the behavior of the checkerboard cichlids? Have they been aggressive at all?

[knee]

On 4/7/2024 at 4:12 AM, macdaddy36 said:

How is the behavior of the checkerboard cichlids? Have they been aggressive at all?

Only to each other but not even that bad. They’re still very young so they just chase each other around but it’s more playful than anything. I’ve kept and attempted to spawn filamentosus and maculatus before but the eggs never hatch. 

I recently saw an article that kept both of them and they were able to hatch the eggs with temps on the mid 70’s so I’m gonna try them with that temp. 
 

 

Did a very minimal rescape for the 40B. I moved the driftwood towards the back to open it up a bit more. Surprisingly it made the fish much more comfortable swimming to the front during feeding time. 
 

Before:

After:

 

Moss has grown a bit since the major rescape. Debating if I should trim it or just let it grow wild. Also ordered some alder cones because I don’t wanna keep putting almond leaves for tannins. There’s about 5 whole leaves and 3 leave that I cut into smaller pieces in there at the moment. 
 

I really wish I can show the rock formation through photos but I’m finding some difficulty when I take photos and when I edit. I think I just have to do a video to really show it off. 

Edited April 8 by knee

[HelplessNewbie]

Those are some gorgeous Bolivian rams! Great photos.

[knee]

On 4/8/2024 at 12:54 PM, HelplessNewbie said:

Those are some gorgeous Bolivian rams! Great photos.

Thank you! I always try to show off my bolivian rams because they dont get as much love and attention like their german cousins 😂

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/8/2024 at 11:13 AM, knee said:

Moss has grown a bit since the major rescape. Debating if I should trim it or just let it grow wild.

Trim it... Probably dip it / treat for algae as well with peroxide.

On 4/8/2024 at 11:13 AM, knee said:

I think I just have to do a video to really show it off. 

Cannot wait for it!

[knee]

Hows everybody doing? It’s been awhile and I’m back for an update. I was kinda forced to rescape the 60 breeder because the tank wasn’t level and I couldn’t lift it even with 10% of water left because I put so much rocks in the scape. 

I also used this opportunity to separate the pearl gouramis and the swordtails. I accidentally hit the breeder box during a water change and released the fry into the tank. There’s about 20+ fry that made it to this size 

I might just keep one male and trade the rest. I’m also trading my 4 pearl gouramis cause I want the Bolivian rams to be the only big fish in the tank. 
 

I removed about 60% of the rocks and was able to use my other piece of driftwood. I had to break it into three pieces to fit them in the tank with my existing driftwood. 

The stem plants in the back still have to adjust but I have some space and I ordered some hygrophila polysperma sunset to add some red/orange with all the green plants. 

I cut some stems from the hygrophila in my 40 breeder and placed them at the backit’s not looking good cause I just trimmed the whole thing a week ako and threw away hundreds of stems. Had to prune the leaves so the bottom part can get some light

Some pics of my Bolivian rams:

My newest male that I got from a friend. He didn’t really feed him much but he’s starting to color up nicely and I’ve only had him 1 week

 

Newest female that was surrendered to one of the LFS I frequently visit. She was at the store for 2 weeks by herself so I asked if I could buy her and they gave it to me for free. She was getting some good color at the store but colored up even more after going into a bigger tank. Probably because of the males too  

 

My favorite male and probably the tank boss. I haven’t seen the other males challenge him. 

 

My 2nd favorite male

 

New pair that formed today. He’s the biggest male but the most skittish too 

 

Group shots

 

40 Breeder has more moss now. There’s a moss ball that formed on the lower right side. Probably strands from the main branch that got pushed by the current. It started growing which helps the shrimp during feeding time.

 

Will probably update this thread again when the stem plants grow and cover the background. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hey @knee! Good to see you! So nice that you rescued the female ram from the LFS. 

The same thing happened to my hygrophila. The bottom became brown and it looked bad. They were shedding leaves daily. Oddly, the roots stayed latched in the substrate. But I ended up retiring them because they were making a mess in there.

The 40B looks amazing! Are you using Christmas moss?

[knee]

On 9/10/2024 at 2:31 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

The same thing happened to my hygrophila. The bottom became brown and it looked bad. They were shedding leaves daily. Oddly, the roots stayed latched in the substrate.

This is what’s happening now and I have to vacuum every few days. I’m kinda thinking of redoing it too but my roommate really likes it so I’m still on the fence about it. 

 

On 9/10/2024 at 2:31 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

The 40B looks amazing! Are you using Christmas moss?

Thank you! I think that’s just regular Java moss. I might use Christmas moss on the driftwood in the 60B. 

[knee]

Did another quick rescape on the 40B. Removed some rocks and moved the driftwood on the right side a little bit more to the left. This gave me some space on the right for some plants. Grabbed some stem plants (forgot the name) from the holding tub and planted them. The plan is for them to grow the same way as the Ludwigia on the left to give some shade below. Also lowered the driftwood piece with the Java ferns to reduce algae. 
tried to edit this photo as close as I can to the one posted before but the lights were already at 50% power when I took this photo. My editing skills are not that good 🥲
 

I was sure I separated all the swordtails and then this one pops out 😂

 

[Retrophyllum_minus]

On 4/6/2024 at 5:18 AM, knee said:

Some photos and a video of my other favorite dwarf cichlid and other tankmates in the black water 40 breeder. I didn’t really plan on it being black water but it worked out better for my stocking. 

 

 

Your photos are amazing.